Angel of Darkness
by Takou33
Summary: His mouth was as hot as an inferno and an instant surge of energy pushed its way through my body, seeping out of every pore, akin to a light sweat. My heart hammered in my chest and I forgot how to breathe as he slowly and thoroughly worked his lips.
1. I Could Have Hit You With My Truck

**A/N: I know I haven't finished 'I wonder' yet, but I have needed inspiration for this story and I MUST write it. =]**

**Dedicated to Angel**

Chapter 1: I Could Have Hit You with My Truck

--

**SPOV**

I had to wake up at seven fuckin thirty in the morning today. Have you ever stayed up till four AM and tried that? I'd hope to think not. Needless to say, I'm walking around like a Zombie. I don't look any better than one either. If I could just wrap my tiny little hands around Orochi's scrawny little neck and choke him to death, I think that would make my morning.

Who's Orochi? Short for Orochimaru. He is my _disgusting_ Anatomy and Bio 3 professor; A.K.A. the one who makes my life a living hell. I mean I could pass the classes with my eyes closed…but do you have to give us 10 page essays, single spaced, due next class, _every_ Wednesday about what we've learned? Fuck you guy.

I stopped bashing my teacher and brooding over my current life situation to go and take a shower. I wonder what today will withhold. Will I trip down the last couple of stairs in the health wing at school like I did last Friday? What if Orochi decides to stand a little _too_ close to me for the billionth time this semester? No, I bet he's going to give us some bullshit assignment…douchebag. Wait…what if I don't get a parking spot! Damn it.

The water in the shower had already run cold by the time I even had my last thought; that was not good. It usually takes about 30 minutes for the water temperature to drop below warm, effectively meaning that right now it's about 8:15…class starts at 8:40. And did I mention that I live on the opposite side of town? That's at least a _thirty minute_ drive with good traffic. Why does it seem that the world is always conspiring against me now a days?

I briskly walked out of my bathroom over to my closet.

_Hm, no time to look great today._

There should be a law against being sarcastic with yourself. Ugh, I'm hopeless.

I tried shoving on some baggy cargo shorts, tried being the keyword. Ever tried to put on loose pants but both feet simultaneously end up in the same leg? It freakin happened, out of all the times in the world it was _now_. Ugh, after finally putting on my shorts the right way, I attempted to put on a fitted tank top, simple right? No, this conspired against me too! If I didn't need them so much, I would cut up, burn, and stomp all over my clothes. Over kill, I know.

Ceasing all evil thoughts towards objects in my household, I put on my shoes, grabbed all necessities, and ran out to my truck. My beautiful truck that could never do me wrong. My mom insisted that I get a car before I graduated high school on the grounds that women don't drive big manly trucks…really mom?

I rolled my eyes and cursed while starting the truck and backed out of the driveway; I have to call my mother. It's a daily ritual she made me keep up just so that her quote 'old heart wouldn't explode from not knowing if her beloved daughter was okay everyday' quote unquote. But I could see why she would worry. I was as flamboyant as a ballerina in pink when I first started high school. Nothing could keep my happy unicorn personality down. But that's when I met Sasuke. The all glorious and gorgeous Sasuke. I remember writing in my diary about him and I. How he would see that I was the perfect girl for him and we'd get together and get married after high school to live in a two story house with a white picket fence. I even deathly remember sketching my wedding dress, ugh. Then there was that one day; it changed me for what I think was the better but others disagree..

_**Flashback**_

_Sakura stood in front of her mirror in her locker combing bubblegum locks of hair. This was the day that she would finally march up to Sasuke and pour her heart out to him, but he wouldn't reject her like he did the other dozens of girls in the school._

_She'd been dreaming of a relationship with Sasuke since she spotted him in English class on the first day of freshman year. She was a senior now and had done everything in her power to wriggle into the position of ''girlfriend''. Including dropping her best friend, now rival, Ino Yamanaka. It hurt at first to know she didn't have a close friend in the school that was of the same gender because they were all vying for Sasuke's affection, but she'd grown accustomed to it. There was no way she was going to back down now after putting up with 4 years of grueling torture. She had to put up with that obnoxiously loud Uzamaki kid, though her heart had grown a soft spot for him in the past couple years, just to get closer to her love interest. Naruto and Sasuke were the best of rivals in a sense as others saw. Constantly fighting to be the best when it came to sports, considering Sasuke always won in the academic realm._

_Her thoughts of the past were interrupted though as she saw _Him_ pass behind her in the mirror of her locker door. In a flurry of pink she slammed her locker shut and skipped to catch up with the dubbed 'prince' of the school._

"_Good morning Sasuke-kun! How was your weekend? Mine was great! I spent most of it watching Sweet 16 reruns, but I thought about you way more than that!" she gave him what she thought was her best innocent, heart melting smile._

_It was a disturbing sight to him._

"…_What do you want Haruno." His tone was clipped and cold as it always was._

_She stopped in the hall and grabbed onto his elbow, pulling him into an empty class room._

"_Sasuke-kun…I need to tell you something. Something important." _

_He inhaled deeply and let it out slowly, "What"_

"_I-i…I need to get some things off my chest" her hands nervously wrung one another, "I've liked you since I first saw you. And I've dreamed of being close to you. All I want is to be able to hold you…be with you…to kiss you" she blushed from her hairline to her neck, "I…I love you Sasuke-kun." She looked up into his eyes with sincerity. _

_He looked down at her from where he stood with the cold hard gaze he usually gave people. Nothing was off except for the slight tick in his jaw._

_He slammed his hand onto the wall that was beside her head where she leaned. _

"_Listen here __**Sakura**__ and listen carefully," He leaned in close to her face but without the intentions she wished "I've let you follow me and Uzamaki around for 4 years without the slightest care. I've put up with your fan girl ways and you trying to throw yourself at me right and left because _he_ wanted you around. But what you failed to realize is how many times I have _ rejected_ you. I never wanted to go out to places with you. I've never invited you anywhere. I've never even had a full length conversation with you; and this is probably the most you will ever hear from me. _.. _I've never liked you, nor will I ever like you. Stop being so easy." He pushed himself off the wall and stuffed his hands in his pockets before promptly leaving. Why should he stick around to see another fan girl cry her eyes out from rejection. He couldn't wait until he graduated and got the hell away from this town._

_Sakura stood in stunned silence and slowly slid to the floor, knees pulled up to her chest._

_He rejected her. He made a very adamant point that there was never anything between them and there never would be. All the dreams of them together were gathered and crushed under the weight of his venomous words. It was over. She'd wasted 4 years of her life on something that never even had a chance once she'd laid eyes on it._

_She began to hyperventilate, breaths coming out in short quick gasps as tears made rigid paths down her cheeks. This couldn't be it. There had to be something more that she could do. She was good enough, she had to be, she'd devoted everything to him, this couldn't be happening. _

_She repeatedly banged her head against the wall she was slumped against. This pain that was gaping from her chest would not subside. It tore through her torso from the pit of her stomach to her throat. It felt near impossible to breath. How was she supposed to live her life __**now**__? Everything was about him up until this point. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. Why would he do that? What did she do to deserve this? She'd been nothing but good to the world since she was able…she'd been nothing but good and loyal to him. _

_Damn you Uchiha. She hit her head a bit harder. Damn you to hell. Her fist slammed into the tiled floor of the classroom as she kicked the nearest desk within her reach. She'd reverted to weak Sakura from elementary who hid away from others' hateful stares and cried, alone._

"_You know Sakura…I don't have to start my class for another hour…Want to talk about it?"_

_Startled from her self pity, she looked up at the gloved hand that was raised out in front of her. _

_She shouldn't have to be alone, especially not when she was obviously hurting so much. He'd seen the Uchiha heir walking out of his empty classroom, more or less brooding as usual. He'd heard her labored breathing, tears, and incessant banging from the other end of the classroom door. He'd known the pain a soul could feel. He knew what it was like to lose something…someone..so dear even though you never actually had them. It could rip you apart from head to toe and leave you not wanting to take another step further in life. But she was so young. She need not face the things he faced at an age much younger than her. He had needed someone there to fill the void in his chest; he would be that someone for her._

_She looked into his eyes, understanding exchanged between the two._

"_Kakashi…"_

_**End Flashback**_

It was a couple years ago, but the pain still ebbed away at the edges of her being. She was never the "flamboyant ballerina" after that. Kakashi promised he'd always be there for her from then on though. She quote 'didn't need to end up as an old woman reading smut' quote unquote. She snorted out a laugh at the thought. That Kakashi.

--

Hm, 8:30, I better call mom.

I took out my cell phone from my pocket but dropped it as I hit a small pothole while trying to merge onto the highway.

"Damn it." I reached down and began patting my hand around trying to find that stupid device. This city should really fix their roads.

Just as my hand touched the phone, some maniac cut me off causing me to slam on my breaks, effectively bring my head into the steering wheel from my position in trying to reach my phone. Today was just _not _my day at all.

I sat back up in my seat and dialed my mothers speed dial with a scowl. There was absolutely no way I could make it to school on time without breaking all speed limits. I **hope** there aren't any cops around.

--

I put on my right blinker and turned into the school parking lot. It was jam packed to the fucking max as usual; Damnit.

"Sakura honey…How are you? Better?" My mom has been asking me things like this since that day in my senior year of high school. She and my father had been terribly worried when their 'baby girl' had come home without that extra pep in her step; green sparkle gone from her eyes replaced with a distant void. I never went on spontaneous shopping trips with my mother anymore. Never baked another batch of 'love filled' cookies for that Uchiha again. She didn't figure out exactly what was wrong with me until they noticed I would cringe and make up a bullshit excuse to leave somewhere private every time she said his name. I still can't hear it…

"Yes mom, I've been fine. You act like I've been going on suicidal rampages. You and I both know I don't have the time or patience to do all of that, so stop worrying please for the both of us." Like I'd actually just jump off a freakin bridge when I've just barely got 2 years of medical school in. Is she crazy?

"I know dear, but an old heart can't help but worry. You know I don't believe that young man deserved you anyways. What was his name again? Sasuki? Sasukai? Sasu-" It started coming back again. The numb feeling around everything except that gaping hole in my chest. It's like something you've never felt before that's constantly eating at my soul. I can't take much more of this; let alone now in the school parking lot while driving a truck.

"-Mom I have to go." I took the phone away from my ear and heard her scream out a final 'But!' before I clicked the end button. She does this almost every time I talk to her and I always pay the consequences with this ceaseless pain.

I wrapped my right arm around my torso and tried to pull myself together and look for a parking spot. Right about now, after the pain has become too difficult is when I begin to reflect and get mad. What gave him the right to say such spiteful things to me and to leave me a shivering mess in Kakashi's room? He's no God and he's definitely not deserving of my feelings anyways. I hope that bastard feels alone in this world like I do now. At least I have a family and not some psychotic nut job parents who commit suicide, and a fugitive brother. Jerk.

I'd finally found a good parking space that wasn't to far from the school entrance and was about to pull into it, when a bright red car cut me off and took it for himself. That fucking bastard.

"Bitch! What the fuck gives you the right!"

I calmed myself and drove down to the parking space about 30 feet down and gathered my things getting out of the car and pulling on my zip up hoodie. As I was walking around the back of my truck to the school I saw the door open to that stupid little red car and couldn't subside the anger that was already bubbling out of me.

"Hey! Hey you jerk!" He stepped out of the car and looked at me with uninterested, cold, jade eyes. Nothing about him made sense. His hair was to rich of a red, and his skin was too pale of an ivory like mine. There was an idiotic tattoo on his forehead of love; who gets tattoos on their face? His jaw line was angled and masculine, lips small and in a semi-pout underneath a strong, small, rounded nose that was turning red with the cold. Cheek bones so high up underneath his dark lashes that the sides of his face almost looked hollow. I stopped walking about 3 feet in front of him and glared at his face; I got a small smirk in return. He had a dimple, but only on his right cheek. He's so odd that it all comes together too perfectly.

That stupid smirk of his infuriated me so I stepped closer and looked up his lanky body to his face. I really didn't think he looked that tall from afar.

"Keep smirking like that and I'll slap it off your face. I've had one hell of a morning and you cutting me off didn't help at all." He actually let out a small breathy chuckle and cocked and eyebrow at my threat….Seriously, who does he think he is?

I reached my hand back and skyrocketed it towards his face, it was going to leave a very pretty mark on his pale skin. The only thing that I didn't anticipate was him side stepping me, my body falling forward with the force of my swing, my forehead hitting the side mirror of his car and breaking it, and finally me blacking out…It wasn't supposed to end like that.

--

I opened my eyes and a bright light blinded me before I could decipher my surroundings.

"Fuck."

"Watch your mouth young lady."

I opened my eyes again and looked to the side before I clenched them shut again and grabbed my head in both hands. I had a pounding headache and felt medical tape on my forehead. "What's wrong with my head? Where am I?"

"You're in Washington State University's Healthcare and Treatment office. Seems you had a little spill in the parking lot. This young man says he saw you slip in a puddle and hit your head so he brought you here" Apparently that was the Nurse who said I slipped in a puddle? What puddle?

I rolled back on my back, closed my eyes, and began mumbling to myself, "I thought my accident prone ass flew into that jerk's side mirror. What a dick, how could he just move out of the way like that…"

A shadow loomed over me and I popped an eye open again, cringing at the sight I saw. Green eyes just like mine were boring into me.

His voice was low, soft, and yet gravely. It shook me with the tenor flowing strongly from it and fluttered and soothed the edges of my bruised soul, "You did. And you owe me." Those were the only words he spoke as he hovered over me for a few more seconds before straightening back up and looked straight ahead.

"Why did you even bring me here?"

"Hn." A typical answer I would expect from that bastard from high school.

I slowly rolled out of the other side of the bed and grasped the cup of water and pain pills on the side table. I'm gonna need these if I still have to go to Orochi's class.

I went to get off the bed but the nurse stopped me with her hand on my shoulder.

"Where do you think you're going young lady?"

"Ma'am I need to get to class. I'm already late and I can't afford to miss anymore classes."

She scrutinized my condition with a squinty look on her face before she nodded and looked to that strange guy standing behind me. "Do you mind taking her? I don't want anything bad happening considering how clumsy she appears to be."

"What! I'm fine! I believe I can make it to my class alone; it's like 3 halls away." But I was being pulled off the uncomfortable nursing bed and dragged out the door by that jerk before I could finish my rant. He shoved my jacket to me when we got out of the office and I pulled it on with a huff. I really don't think this is a good day for me.

--

I walked into class and that evil snake Orochi looked at me with a disgusting smile in place. He licked his lips and smiled wider as he saw who was behind me. "Ahh, Sakura my delicate flower, it seems as if you've finally made it to class _and _brought our new student Mr. Subaku with you. You two can be partners for the rest of the semester and begin on the lab project we've just begun."

I stood stock still and gazed at nothing in particular, not believing my life. I have a horrible morning at home, bash my big forehead twice, lose a parking space, embarrass the shit out of my self, have the one guy I was beginning to hate bring me to the nurses office to fix me up, being left utterly confused at the feelings he's beginning to provoke whether I want to own up to them or not, and now I have to be partners with the assface for the rest of the semester(that's 8 fuckin weeks) without a chance of figuring out just what's going on. No way. This is just my luck.

I was knocked out of my reverie when 'Mr. Subaku' brushed by me to go and sit in the back of the class to begin the lab. This is no big deal, he's just a dude who took a parking space, big whoop. He's not the nicest, but he does the right things, he hasn't said anything rude, and I'm finding myself being maybe…attracted to him? Fuck.

I stomped up the stares to the back of the class, glaring at Orochi on the way there while he smiled back. Placing my bag on the side of the desk and flopping in my seat, I turned my chair to face parking lot guy…I really can't keep calling him parking lot guy.

"Name."

He looked down on me with a disinterested gaze and the next word he said rolled off his tongue effortlessly. "Gaara."


	2. Healing

**A/N: It's been a while. Major OOCness.**

**Chapter 2: Healing**

**NPOV**

He stood in the expansive, dark tranquility of his kitchen; nibbling on a bar of chocolate. The digital clock on the stove glared the omniscient viridian numbers of 4:57 back to his jade orbs. She was due to be welcomed into his extensive, dim abode in 3 minutes.

The walls with which he lived in reflected him through every shade of color represented and every deliberately placed object of furniture. Grays, blacks, and whites predominantly occupied the hues of all of his furniture, while splashes of crimson, royal purple, gold, and occasionally forest green stood out from the rest. His decorative fashion was brightly reflected through the timeless artifacts that once belonged to the Persian aristocracy; each piece handpicked and more artistic than the last. He had put a lot of thought and patience into his loft for it to reach the artistic level it now exuded. However, most of all, tonight, it needed to be that much better.

He sauntered over to the open living room adjacent to the front door and sat on the plump obsidian couch. Allowing his arms to dangle between his ajar but tense legs while his elbows supported his torso upon his knees; he waited.

Two days prior, after having been given the assignment, he'd quietly written down his address and phone number on a piece of paper and slid it across the desk to her.

**Flashback**

"_Friday, 5pm, and do not be late." _

_She gaped at him before hardening her resolve and glaring at the piece of paper, then their professor. She was a little spit fire, he'd give her that much. Hell, he could give her a lot more than that and he did not like it one bit. _

_He'd been drawn to her since that morning in the parking lot. Something about the pleasantly strange looking girl startled him into existence. He'd fully intended to start at this new college and finish as quickly as possible to obtain his medical degree; anything to defy the "business plan" that his father forced down his throat every time they spoke. But then she came in a flurry of profanities and…captivated him. He hated her for it. He'd never looked at a woman like he was trying desperately to stop doing now. His fingers had never fidgeted with the compulsive need to reach out and touch her somehow. She was no good for him; he could see that clearly. She had the power to make him do anything with a glance; it was something he wasn't used to doing. Not a feeling he openly welcomed. No matter how loud the bells in his head were going off to demand he switch his class, his subconscious allowed nothing of the sort. He stared at her for a few seconds while half and half of him debated. One side demanded that he would mentally and emotionally crush her to prevent damage to his one psyche, while the other side ached to cover her in an emotional blanket of love. Love... He needed to get away from her, quickly, to clear his thoughts. _

_He had come home and in a flurry of anxiety and rage, and stripped down to only a pair of tattered jeans. He would paint her out of his life and mind. _

_Hard, languid strokes of charcoal and pastels hit the canvas as rain assaulted the windows of his loft. A beautifully haunting memory she would become. Forever out of his system; he hoped. He worked well into the night and stopped only when dawn struck. He was emotionally exhausted and dropped to his knees in the middle of the havoc he'd created. _

_It was her. All of the vibrant art situated around him stared back with emerald eyes and petal pink hair. It was her. It would always be her whether he wanted it to be or not. _

**End Flashback**

The viridian clock on the stove struck 5pm. He looked to the door and waited with anticipation.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Porcelain fingers gripped the steering wheel tightly until her knuckles became a ghostly white. Fierce emerald eyes glared unseeingly out of the windshield of her car.

"Get a hold of yourself Haruno. He's just a dim-witted guy… Just another guy…"

She grabbed her bags from the passenger seat and swiftly exited her truck, making a beeline for the elevator of the car park she was in. Her finger jammed repeatedly at the up button until a 'ding' resounded throughout the quiet space around her, echoing off the walls.

"Creepy…" she mumbled.

She glanced down at the crinkled address on the piece of paper in her hand and pressed the button for floor 2. With a jolt, the machine ascended upwards, its old gears screeching with complaint to a halt.

"Very creepy." She mumbled once again while exiting the elevator. It was a single hall with one door at the end all the way to her left.

She stood in the middle of the hall, mulling over the thoughts that had been chaotically colliding with each other over the past 48 hours. He was within her thoughts all the time and it was insufferable. She didn't think she could put up an irritated and disinterested façade for very long within the presence of his home. She would be in one of the most intimate areas of his current life. How could she brush it off and act as if he didn't matter? He mattered. For the first time in Washington, something other than school mattered and it frightened her. She'd have to be acceptable for him. But hell she couldn't see herself changing back into her 'flamboyant ballerina' days for him…No…not since _him_. She'd be the best that she could without the fancy tricks and cadavers of her previous years. And by the gods, she hoped he accepted her.

She'd only just met him. Why was he impacting her so, and screwing up her thought patterns?

She huffed and began taking deliberate and staccato steps towards his door.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

He heard the footfalls of her heeled shoes on the floor and quickly crossed to the door waiting for her to knock.

She didn't.

He looked through the peephole and watched her for a few seconds as she took short laboring breaths and wrung her hands within one another. She was mumbling words he couldn't hear but nonetheless he liked the way her mouth was moving; her tongue.

He look away from the peephole and leaned his forehead against the dense wood. His lips slightly agape, eyes scrunched shut, fingers flexing against the wood of the door where her body would be. Maybe, he decided in that moment, just maybe he could indulge himself without her being aware. It would satisfy him and she'd never have to know. He wouldn't have to feel unrequited love once again.

Four short rapid knocks awakened him from his thoughts and his body retreated from the door as if it had been scorched. He slowly unlocked it, opening it with an unwavering gaze present on his face. She looked up into his face and all the confidence she'd been just trying to gather diminished. She was defenseless in his eyes, and he could feel it.

"H-Hi…" she lifted up her delicate hand in a small wave but dropped it when he didn't return the gesture.

"W-we…um…I-"she was nervously wracking her brain for words she didn't need to say. Why couldn't she form one coherent sentence? She was acting like an idiot. This wasn't her intention at all. He wasn't saying anything either…

"I-"she gestured back down the hall towards the elevator, "I think maybe I should just go?"

He quirked an eyebrow at her awkwardness and ran a hand through his shaggy red hair.

"I know why you're here, obviously." The baritone in his voice commanded her attention and she stared back doe eyed. Why was she acting like this?

He stepped back and opened the door wider for her to enter. After shuffling on her feet for a few seconds, she swiftly entered his loft and took a 360 turn to capture it all. It was a work of art and absolutely nothing she'd expected. He had taste…she adored men with taste.

He ever so quietly stalked up to her from behind, so close that he could bump into her if he so much as inhaled too deeply. He lightly inhaled her scent which sent his body into a disordered frenzy. Goosebumps prickled his skin while the hair at the nape of his neck stood on end. It took everything in him not to let a rather violent shiver wrack down his spine. If only he could just touch her…but that wasn't permitted in the decision he'd reached.

He sensed her about to say something, which probably wouldn't be of importance and retreated back to his rightful position a good 5 feet behind her.

"You know, I've actually always wanted to study abroad in history. Persian history always interested me." She said while turning around to look at him.

He looked at her before shifting his gaze to the dining room and taking swift long strides towards it.

"Okay…" she mumbled and followed in his footsteps.

"I researched a few topics already. I know what I want to do; you just need to approve it." It was the longest sentence she'd heard from him thus far.

She looked at the stacks of scattered paper around the dining room table and his forgotten computer with word documents open.

"Alright, well let's see what you found." She moved to sit in the chair directly next to him but he abruptly stood up. She stilled her movements and looked up at him dumbfounded.

"You look here…I'll just go over a few things online…over there." He mumbled the last part and moved quickly to the other side of the long table with his computer. He couldn't handle being that close to her unless he felt in control, and after that initial greeting, he was not in control at all.

He moved to the opposite side of the table and engrossed himself in his searches. She eyed him curiously from his abrupt reaction and he felt her stare boring into him from all angles. Wasn't she supposed to be doing something productive? He'd left her more than five minutes ago and yet she was _still _staring at him.

He was such a beautiful and distant creature. Not very often nowadays did a man stir up the carnal instincts threatening to pour out of every aperture of her body. His presence blanketed her and consumed her in his dark and restrained aura. She'd never experienced these feelings so profound. Not even with _him. _She wanted to get to know Gaara; from the inside out. To find out what makes him tick both the right way and the wrong way. She didn't want to be lonely anymore. She'd never been in a relationship; she just didn't have the heart after high school. Maybe he could be her first. Her first for a lot of things it seemed…

He was so distant, so cold, although the passion flaring dully in the background of his intense jade eyes was enough to make her weak. She was under his complete control with one disinterested glance. Here she was putting her fragile barely mended heart on the line for the same type of guy that made everything go wrong just a few short years ago. She desperately wanted him to prove her wrong. She was tired of feeling alone, sleeping alone, eating alone, being alone and letting her thoughts consumer her…

She shivered at her thoughts and took a furtive glance over in his direction. He looked very concentrated on something; one fist balled up next to his computer.

"So I think I like project 3. " Her quiet voice rang out through the silence around them, just above the pitter patter of the rain against the windows.

"Alright…I assume we'll have to meet weekly to finish this whole thing as soon as possible?" His eyes shifted about the room looking at random objects, anything other than her.

"Yeah. How about Wednesdays and Fridays?" she asked, desperately trying to meet his shifty gaze.

"Yeah, sure." He closed his laptop and began gathering the papers strewn about the table.

She tried helping, upon occasion slightly brushing his fingers with her delicate ones. There was only so much control he'd have until he snapped.

"Can you just-"She continued to scoop up the papers, although now intentionally brushing her hand against his. She didn't hear his soft whisper.

"Can you just stop! Just sit in the living room!" Gaara suddenly roared, throwing the papers in the middle of the table and furiously running his hands through his crimson locks, grabbing at the ends.

Sakura shook with the adrenaline coursing precariously through her veins. Why did he just scream at her? What did she do?

"But I was just-"

"Go."He uttered that one word while looking off to the side. His chest rising and falling rapidly although his demeanor gave off no other sign of his agitation. At least she thought it was agitation. In actuality it was his body trying to fight back against the control his head was now reigning over it.

She hardened her gaze and quickly began throwing things at random into her bag to leave. "Fine." She grabbed her belongings and stormed towards the door, stopping herself short when she reached the handle.

He didn't want her to be upset with him, but didn't she see what she was doing to him? There was only so much his fragile soul can handle. He didn't know how to make it up to her because apologies weren't his thing. Crap, he'd messed up.

She looked at where he was standing in the waning light of the afternoon, a perplexed and crest fallen look upon his face. She'd forgiven him the moment she began walking towards the door. She would give him a thousand more chances with just a glance from those intense jade orbs.

"I'll see you Friday Gaara…" His head quickly snapped up and jade met vibrant emerald. If she hadn't been mistaken, the beginnings of a smirk started twitching on the left side of his mouth. She wanted to walk over and trace his unique masculine features…but he didn't seem to like touching very much.

He watched her leave and listened to about 5 clicks of her heels and the elevator's prominent 'ding' before he rushed to the door and grabbed his keys. Why he was following her home, he didn't know, but he just couldn't leave her yet. This big open space became too lonely at times.

****

Sakura darted out of the elevator and into the desolate car park, heading straight for her car. She saw a lone figure hastily making their way through the garage also, a flash of red capturing her attention.

_Is that…?... No..No._

She got to her truck and unlocked it, hoisting herself into the large machine. It was only a short 10 minute drive back to her home. Thankfully a lot closer than that hell hole of a college. She picked up herself phone and dialed an all too familiar number.

"My lovely Koi-chan!" a hefty baritone rang from the other end upon answering.

She laughed and turned onto the main road. "Why do you insist on calling me that?"

"Because I love you of course, unless you're cheating on me, I won't stop. And I _know _you're not." He started laughing but soon stopped when she didn't join him. She worried her bottom lip and made a slight cough into the receiver.

"Sakura…" she cringed at his commanding tone.

"What?"

"Who is he?"

"Who's who?" she pretended to not understand his question.

"I'm not going to ask you again." His voice left no room for discussion.

"He's just this guy."She waved her hand in a dismissive motion while turning down her block.

"But wha-"

"-Oh well what do you know, I'm pulling into my driveway. I'll talk to you later Kakashi! Love you!" She closed her cell phone as quickly as possible, frowning down at it as she thought over the small conversation.

_That man…_

She sighed while gathering her things, and literally hopping down from her large truck, nearly breaking her ankle in the stumble that followed.

Grumbling all the way to the door, she hastily unlocked it and threw her belongings down on the floor. She was going to go make a nice dinner and wallow in her thoughts with a glass of white wine. Perfect night. She rounded the corner to her kitchen but immediately backed up until she ran into the wall behind her, hand against her racing heart, eyes wide as saucers.

"Sakura, you know this wasn't the greeting I was quite expecting." A throaty chuckled resounded throughout the kitchen at their own words.

She squeezed at her heart to stop the fast pace and a large smile began to creep across her features.

"Kakashi!"

****

He darted into the significantly vacant garage right after her and made a beeline for his black sports car parked on the other side. She looked at him, but he quickly turned away, quickening his pace further. He ducked into his car and started it as he waited for her to reverse out of her parking space.

_Why are you doing this Sabaku…_

She reversed and began heading to the entrance of the garage, cell phone in hand. He followed her all the way home, watching as her head occasionally shook from side to side and how her hands sometimes flailed in the air at the conversation he could only guess she was having.

She pulled up to her house and sat in her truck for a minute longer before she hopped out and…nearly busted her ass. A small smile etched its way across his features at her almost potentially harmful spill. He watched as she entered the house and could see her through the clear window in her dining room. She walked into the room but immediately became frightened. What the hell was going on? Now there was a shirtless unknown man approaching her…and she was smiling back at him?

The anger that began coursing through his body made the hackles on the back of his neck stand up. What was a half naked man doing in her house making her eyes light up the way they did? Was she… Was she involved with someone?… Why hadn't she told him? Did he ever give her reason to? Did he ever give her reason to think he cared in general? He never wanted to.

He looked back at the window and watched as the silver haired man peppered kisses all over her face. It should have been him. It should have been his mouth. He should be the one making her look so happy.

Furiously, he began searching for something, anything that would allow him to do what he had planned. He was going to stop this and permanently set his foot in her life somehow.

He unbuckled his seat belt and began barreling towards her front door, ripping his hood off. Three brisling knocks faded into the cooling evening air as he waited for her to answer. Loud stomps of two pairs of feet could be heard along with giggling. _Her _laughter.

"_Sa-Ku-Ra, you were expecting company my koi?" _Gaara desperately wanted to snap this man's neck.

"_What? No, no, I don't know who this could b- Kakashi stop it! Stop! It tickles!"_ He could hear her laughing again while he began to start seeing red.

He knocked again and again until she pulled open the door and stared at him with a shocked expression on her face…the silver haired man draped behind her, leaning against the door frame.

"Gaara? What are you doing here? How did you know where I-"

"-I brought you this." He held up a small pink Hello Kitty pen in his hand.

She looked down at it, quirking her eyebrow and cocking a hip. Kakashi looked from the small pen to the unknown red head, back to the pen. Was he serious?

"Are you really-"

"-You left it? At my _house_ when you left in a hurry. I figured you'd want it since you seemed to like it." He threw an intimidating and smug smirk in Kakashi's direction when he mentioned her being at his house.

"Oh, well," she grabbed the pen from his hand, "Um…thank you?"

He gave a curt nod and continued to stare at Kakashi. She watched the two men conduct a staring contest and rolled her eyes.

"Who are you?" Gaara asked in a stern voice.

"I could ask you the same." Kakashi matched his tone.

Sakura gave a frustrated growl that had both men looking at her in question. "Kakashi will you just go wait in the living room, please?" Sharp emerald eyes met guilty charcoal.

He sighed, "Alright, alright." He kissed her on the top of her head like a loving father, "Don't you hurt her." He shot an intimidating look to Gaara before retreating to the living room as instructed.

Sakura stepped outside onto the porch and looked up at Gaara, pen in hand. "So you came here fo-"

"-Who was that?" Was he ever going to stop interrupting her?

She looked up into his captivating eyes and found herself telling him things she really shouldn't be sharing with a complete stranger. "His name is Kakashi, obviously. He's a very very close friend of mine from when I lived in Japan. He lives in Canada now…I don't know why…"

"_Don't bash Canadians!"_ Was heard from inside the house.

Sakura turned and smiled towards the door before turning back to Gaara, "He um…He helped me through a period of mine when I had…for better lack of words, mentally checked out. Sanity wise that is."

She looked off to the side as Gaara quirked and eyebrow at her statement. "There was this guy…this guy way back in high school. I-"She paused and inhaled slowly, "I loved him."

Gaara visibly flinched at her words.

"At least I thought I did. I was just a stupid teenager caught up in obsession…And he broke me. He broke me from the inside out." She looked down and a curtain of petal pink folded across her features before she looked back up, stronger than before. "Kakashi was my English teacher. He saw me crying in his classroom and he fixed me. He's been one of the closest people to me ever since. He's like my other half I guess." She laughed at her own statement.

He wanted to be her other half.

"Don't mind the gestures either. He's just a very affectionate man."

Gaara gave a curt nod and stuffed his fist in his pocket. They stood there for a couple more minutes listening to the growing sounds of the night as the cool air set in.

"I think I'm going to go-"

"-Do you want to maybe go out for tea? I love green tea. Maybe at the smalle coffee shop in town?" She was the one to interrupt him this time.

He looked shocked at her offer and began warring with himself in his head. He wasn't supposed to be allowing himself to spend time with her. _Follow_ her around. To even be around her period. But he was tired….so tired of not letting himself feel for the sake of trying to be protected. He desperately wanted to have her be his Kakashi; affectionate gestures and so much more involved. It was the first time he'd ever felt like this and it was consuming him whole. No more barriers, no more rules, he was going to try everything in his power now, and she would be his. It was going to be hard to try and change 20 years of living so quickly but he'd try, for her.

"Yes. Yes, I want to." He stared intently into her face, into her eyes. She noticed something there that wasn't there before. Something had changed within him in a few short seconds.

"Okay…just let me get my bag and shoes and I'll be right out." He looked down to her bootless feet wiggling in the cool air and let out a breathy chuckle. She already had him _laughing_. He hadn't felt like this in years. He wasn't going to let her go, whether she knew it or not.

She smiled sweetly at him and disappeared into the house to retrieve her belongings.

He walked to the steps of her porch and sat down, mulling over his thoughts as hefty puffs of smoke escaped his mouth in every breath. A real smile began tracing his features and he let his head hang as he stared down at his faded converse. Inklings of happiness traced and ebbed at the edges of his heart and soul. He was healing. Finally learning how to heal.

**Thank you for reading. Review please.**


	3. Phonecall

**A/N: OOCness from here on out most likely.**

**Chapter 3: Phone call**

**SPOV**

I walked inside and reached down to pickup my boots and grab my purse.

Had I really just asked Gaara out for..tea? How would this pan out? He never seemed to be the most inviting of spirits on the short encounters that we'd had but when he showed up a few minutes ago he was…dare I say, jealous? Something happened. I was able to see so clearly through those jade eyes like I was never able to before. So many conflicting emotions passed through them until finally, acceptance? Longing?

He's such a dark and jaded person; reminding me so much of myself in the painful recovery of my senior year in high school, except he has no Kakashi. What did he have? I didn't know. Could I possibly be that something for him? Did I want to be? Was he just going to break my heart like-

I needed to stop over thinking things.

I looked down and realized my purse and boots were not where I'd left them when I'd first come home. Calmly walking into the living room I leaned against the frame to study an 'innocent' Kakashi lounging on the sofa reading some of my porn.

"Give them to me Kakashi."

He slowly snapped the book shut and sat up, eyeing me with mock hurt. "Sakura I have no idea what you are talking about."

"I'm not going to ask you twice." I slowly advanced towards him as he began to smile at me.

"I'm quaking in fear at your 5' 4", barefoot, she-devil appearance Sakura; you may have to clean your couch cushions." He slowly set the book down onto the table and got up, walking past me to the kitchen.

"Kakashi Hatake!" I lunged onto his back and locked him into a headlock. He always waited until important moments to want to play. "I swear to every higher power, if you don't give me my purse and boots back I'll snap your neck right here!"

He let out a wheezy cough/laugh and pointed underneath the low coffee table. "Could you stop being a "wanna-be ninja" for five seconds and actually look around your house? Jeeze, now let me go!"

I jumped down and hurriedly ran over to throw my boots on. "5' 4" she-devil my ass," I mumbled. "I know you heard us out there. If you didn't want me to go with him, that's all you had to say, even though I wouldn't listen. You know I don't like to play games with you when I'm on my way to do something."

"Or someone…" He lowly retorted from his stationary point by the door.

"Excuse me Hatake?"

"Nothing, Haruno." He smirked at me and then looked serious. A speech was coming.

I held up my hand just as he opened his mouth and walked towards him, purse in hand. "Look, can you make this one short? He's been out there longer than it really should have been for me to put on boots and grab my bag." I crossed my arms in front of my chest and waited for the onslaught of warnings, only they didn't come.

Kakashi pulled me into a soft embrace and dipped his forehead to my shoulder before he spoke. "Sakura," his hold tightened around me, "I don't want to lose you all over again. We worked so hard to put you back together. I'm just…" he paused and sucked in a deep breath before grabbing my shoulders to bring us face to face, "Be careful?"

I rubbed my thumb across the gathered skin of his eyebrows too smooth the lines of worry before tracing down the side of his temple to rub his cheek, "Of course."

**-A.o.D-**

The ride to the coffee shop in town was rather silent. I was stuck between awkwardly glancing out the window and trying to make small talk with Gaara. Sometimes he would look relaxed, head resting upon his hand while his arm rested on the window sill. He had a loosened grip on the steering wheel, a calculating look in his eye and a small smirk upon his plush pinkish-peach lips. But then he would glance over out of the corner of his eye…and the calculating look would change into a seemingly frustrated looked, his grip would tighten, his pink lips would mesh together into a firm line, and his foot would place just that much more pressure on the gas to speed through traffic. He was uncomfortable; that much was obviously apparent, but whether it was because of me or the fact that he didn't want me to see him so open with his feelings, I didn't know. Was it strange of me to want to seek out his problems and hardships? To comfort him until he felt he could tell me anything and display emotions he'd never let anyone else see. I wish I knew, but for now we were only out for tea and coffee.

After a few seconds his grip loosened as we came to a stoplight in town, and everything about him seemed to change at once. He leaned his head back against the headrest while his hand slowly crept to where mine dangled from the center console. His slender fingers deftly turned my hand palm up to dance across the center and drag lazy lines up and down the paths of my fingers.

Up and down…Up and down.

I held my breath to contain my surprise but mostly so that I wouldn't startle him because I didn't want him to stop. He was being…intimate? Even if it was only our hands, I knew that him initiating contact in itself was like meeting a fallen angel upon the street; very rare and treasure worthy. I closed my eyes to try and regulate my shallow breathing and mind boggling thoughts. It was only a hand, and we were only out for tea, but who could think about tea when his delicate touches were starting to tickle?

A giggle almost escaped me, but came out as a hiccupping chuckle as I tried to keep it at bay. His eyes slowly cracked open and he raised an eyebrow in question. A small smirk was forming on his lips.

What had happened? His bipolar antics conflicted so dangerously with my straightforward emotions. Wasn't he just annoyed that I'd been staring at him a moment prior? But now he was openly displaying amusement at his ability to tickle me? He was weird, but the type of weird I wanted to put up with just because I wanted to.

"Green…" I whispered.

"Yes, my eyes are green like yours." He almost rolled his eyes, but kept his calculating gaze bored into my soul.

"No, you idiot. Green light." I leaned against the window and watched the murky scenery go by as we made our way to Jenna's.

"Hi, welcome to Jenna's Coffee Shop, my name is Josh. What can I get for you two today ma'am?" I wasn't sure if Josh was interested in serving me the tea I wanted or more interested in trying to look down my top.

"Can I have a vanilla chai tea and a banana nut muffin, please?"

"Of course! ... And for him?" His gaze flickered over to Gaara awaiting his order, but quickly shifted down to look at the cash register.

"Hot chocolate with extra marshmallows and a chocolate muffin." Gaara's tone of voice was menacing and Josh quickly put the order into the register. What was wrong with men and asserting dominance?

**-A.O.D-**

**GPOV**

Driving I loved doing. Especially if it meant I was going to get chocolate. Just the thought of the sweet candy made me want to smile. Ever since I was a kid and I tried my first milk chocolate candy bar on Halloween, I'd developed a sick obsession for it. It was like the one thing that soothed me as a child and even as I got older, thanks to my mom...

I remember driving from Reno to Washington with my sister -Temari- a headache wrapped in purple clothing, ocean blue eyes, and unruly dirty blonde hair. The only thing that had comforted me on that trip was chocolate and memories of my mother. Slowly but surely I'd learned to love my sister over the years after our horrible run in with my uncle. Worst 3 years of my life. She and I fought like there was no tomorrow along with our brother. I can say I love them now but 5 years ago, I wanted nothing more than to tear them limb from limb with my bear hands. They didn't understand me, and I didn't understand them, yet here we are years later mediocre in terms of familial relationship, if not a little frazzled still.

Chocolate. It saved me on that trip. When I felt the need to pull over and violently kick Temari out of the car and leave her stranded in the dead of the night, it brought me back to reality. My mother used to always bring me chocolate when I was a kid, up until the day she died…I guess it's the reason why I cherish it and… love it so much. I mean, chocolate could never do me wrong because it doesn't breathe, it doesn't speak, it doesn't scream, it doesn't shout insults, it doesn't hit…

Sakura…I was going out for 'tea' with Sakura. However the concept of 'tea' was starting to mean more to me with every car that passed and every second we got closer to Jenna's little coffee shop in town. I'm about to remove a barrier that has been in place for so many years. Could I ever fully let her in? My subconscious wants to incinerate every layer of the tough exterior I developed from my adolescent years so that she can worm her way into my mind, body, and soul. I want to fill her mind with thoughts of me that will leave her restless at night; tossing and searching for warmth she never thought she would crave before.

Why?

Why do I want her to have to suffer from the same things I do? I know the answer, but it's the one reason why I don't want to remove my barrier. I want to be everything for her that I'm afraid she's becoming for me, so that I'm not the only one who might get hurt in the end. Because I know that for me, it can never end in happiness. I can almost say I hate her for making me feel this way…but I mostly hate her for not coming into my life sooner. I could say I don't like how she makes me feel, but I know I'll keep going back for more. She makes me weak, so weak, but if weakness isn't a sign that you're alive, then I don't know what is. I've been walking around these last few years seemingly existing; fading into the backdrop…I want to live.

I glanced at her from the corner of my eye, realizing that she was watching me.

_Shit_

My cheeks tinged a light shade of pink that I wasn't used to turning. I wanted to close myself up; put the barriers back in place before I could stop them. How was I ever supposed to move on with myself, possibly make something of her and me, if my initial instinct is to always close up on her. I'm tired of not being in control. I want to be in control.

I stopped at the light and inhaled a deep breath, leaning my head back against the seat.

_I want to be in control._

My hand slowly made its way to hers, tracing the soft lines of her palm, up her fingers and back down.

_Control._

She was soft; skin as smooth as the silky rich sheets that lay untouched on my bed at home. Her hands were hot, and I wondered if they would ever feel as hot against my body. I wanted to find out. I felt her gently shake upon my tracing fingers and release a hiccupped laugh; I opened my eyes to look at her. When had they closed?

My eyes focused on petal pink hair, brilliant green eyes, rosy cheeks and a slightly red nose from the cold. Her facial features were soft and agreed with her heart shaped face. She was beautiful to me, and I apparently had the ability to make her laugh. I had the ability to make her happy.

I smirked, and her eyes narrowed in the slightest.

"Green," she whispered.

I almost felt like rolling my eyes. Of course she would be distracted by my eye color. It was…cute.

"Yes, my eyes are green like yours, Sakura." I couldn't help but almost smile.

"No, you idiot. Green light."

**-A.o.D-**

**NPOV**

Soft music drifted in the atmosphere along with the strong smell of chocolate and bananas wafting around them. Quiet chatter in the front of the café worked its way back to the warm dimly lit corner in the rear of the small shop where emerald stared into piercing jade.

"Shut. Up."

Sakura pushed back into the comfy booth and tapped her foot idly on one of the table's stands. "No."

Gaara rolled his eyes and swirled around the rest of the now lukewarm cocoa in his mug. She has pink hair and used to run around in pink dresses apparently, so what had possessed her to have a sick obsession with Digimon and Mighty Morphing Power Rangers, he had no clue. She had to be lying.

"Bullshit."

She sighed and raked a hand through her hair to hold her bangs up. She looked at him dead on. "I'm so serious. My mother hated it. She said it was very unbecoming of me as a young lady." She let her hair go and played with the crumbs of her banana nut muffin. "But I didn't care. If it's any consolation, I wanted to be the pink ranger."

She laughed and he smirked; he could honestly believe that.

He stared at her and the air soon became thick with tension. His face changed into one of discomfort as Sakura scooted forward to the edge of the table. She reached her hand across the table and lightly settled it upon his.

He slowly retracted his hand and let it slide into his lap. A dust of pink coated his cheeks which he covered by leaning his face into his open palm.

Her brow furrowed and she slowly looked down to his zipped up jacket.

"I like you, you know." She received silence in response. "I don't know why, but I really do…It's all so soon and I really hate the feeling it gives me. It's all consuming, almost like an obsession. Mostly because I think about it a lot and in turn it leads me to think about you a lot. It's more of a girl thing, I suppose. You know, you start liking a guy and soon enough he's all you can think about and you break down every little action and word and-" She paused and looked up into his face. "I'm sorry, I'm rambling." She looked to her lap where her hands wrung themselves together. "I know you feel something for me too."

He looked away from her face and out the window, "No.." he replied a bit defensively.

"Gaara," she gave an exasperated sigh, "You don't have to lie. It's not that big of a deal. It's not like I said you loved me or I loved you."

He visibly cringed at the word love. "No way, not even a little bit." he stubbornly argued.

Sakura rolled her eyes, "Gaara this isn't third grade. Yes you do. Why are you denying it?"

He looked at her, the corners of his mouth turned down into a scowl, "Okay maybe a little bit." He held up a hand in front of her before she could utter a sound, "I'm taking you home." He stood up before she had a chance to argue with him and started walking towards the door.

**-A.o.D-**

She sat in the passenger seat looking at her hands, ignoring the fact that he had pulled up to her house over ten seconds ago.

"Gaara-"

"-The tea and cocoa were nice.. I'll see you tomorrow, Haruno. Don't forget the notes." Gaara started his car again and leaned his head on the window.

"…Goodnight Gaara." She removed herself from the car and slowly walked up her driveway and into her home. Kakashi was nowhere to be found downstairs so she assumed he was upstairs asleep.

She didn't understand why the night had ended the way it had when it seemed that things were going so great. He was the one to initiate contact, right? She replayed the moment where things had become tense over and over as she readied herself for bed, trying to decipher if she had perhaps been too forward.

"I didn't do **anything** wrong," she huffed out as she closed the curtains in her bedroom, only to reopen then quickly. "What the fuck?"

She looked down below under her tree in her front yard and swore she saw a figure in black with vibrant red hair. It began to rain down hard as she tried to interpret if the image she thought she was seeing was actually there. She opened the window and shouted just as a large clap of thunder shook her core.

"Gaara?"

Whatever it was responded in the slightest and retreated backwards a step.

"Sakura, what the hell are you doing?" Kakashi rubbed the sleep from his eyes and sat up in her bed. "Who the hell are you yelling at?"

She looked back out the window and the figure had disappeared. Had she imagined it?

"Umm…nothing, nothing. Let's go to bed." She looked back out her window once more before shutting it and crawled into bed beside Kakashi. They both turned onto their backs and clasped one hand onto each others. It was more for safety throughout the night, seeing as how Kakashi often woke up from raging nightmares a few times a week. He'd never forget Obito's, his best friend's, death.

Sakura soon heard his light snores but continued to stare at the ceiling. She could have sworn she saw Gaara…who else had bright red hair like that? Was she thinking too hard about him and had actually visualized him right there? It was logical, but she wasn't insane. It was something. It must have been him.

She rolled onto her side facing Kakashi, still tightly clasping his hand.

It had felt like him.

**-A.o.D-**

The house that had once awaited him in deafening silence was interrupted by a large slam from the front door. He flicked the light switch and turned to face his door once again, slamming his palms against the thick wood. He could care less that at the moment his converse and feet were soaked to the bone and his pants were dripping a wild mess on his hardwood floors. He was so **stupid**. The one opportunity he had out with her to **not **seem like a freak and he blew it. She probably thought- no- he **knew** she thought he had no interest in her because little more than that had come from his mouth. And then like the sick bastard he was, he stood underneath her tree looking up into her window, trying to find something to say that would take away all the wrong signals he was intentionally sending that night away.

_Fuck. _

He stomped back to his bedroom to rid himself of the slopping wet clothing that hung from his lean body. He really needed to talk to Shikamaru to straighten himself out and give a new perspective to the situation at hand.

Soaking wet clothes forgotten in a hamper and now mostly dry with a towel draped around his neck, he picked up his phone to call his close friend. It rang five times and just as Gaara began to get frustrated and give up, a scruffy voice answered the other end.

"What?"

Gaara rolled his eyes at the harshness that exuded from Shikamaru's first word. He must have been sleeping. He hates when people bother him while he sleeps. Gaara toyed with the edge of a throw pillow on the sofa as he took a deep breath, preparing himself for the long conversation to come.

"I messed up." He clenched his jaw at the disheartening confession.

A grunt escaped Shikamaru and an exasperated sigh before he responded, "Yea well I sort of guessed that or else you wouldn't be calling me at 10pm. You know I'm usually in bed by 9. I mean I do adore my sleep."

Gaara rolled his eyes once again. If there was anything he disliked about his close friend it was the fact that he was able to sleep so easily and for such long periods of time **anytime **he felt like it, which was seemingly at any given second on any day. It had to be unhealthy to sleep that much right?

"No, you don't understand. I didn't mess up with the law or skip out on an important assignment or any of that, I…" He paused to drag a hand down his face and rub at his eyelids, "I messed up bad with this-this-"

"-Well spit it out already! I'd like to go back to sleep before tomorrow comes if you don't mind," Shikamaru dryly remarked.

Gaara glared at the phone clutched to his right ear and continued his earlier thought process, "As I was saying before. I messed up with this..this **girl**."

Silence rang from the other end of the line for what seemed like an eternity.

"A girl, you said?" Shikamaru asked with genuine curiosity.

"Yes, a **girl**," Gaara emphasized, hints of frustration peeking through his normally demure façade.

Shikamaru gave a dry chuckle, instantly recognizing the shift in Gaara's mood and deciding not to become the center of his rage. "Okay okay, well what happened?"

The less than romantic encounter between the two upon first meeting was told in detail, the days and hours of endless thoughts about her, along with the unexpected tantrum he threw on her when she came over to study, down to the awkward moment with their hands in the car, the untimely appearance of his defense walls after her confession, and the time spent underneath her tree.

A small amount of rustling was heard from the other line as Gaara finished his tale. A feminine voice mumbled in an inaudible sleepy tone and Shikamaru quietly, but hastily replied and told her to go back to sleep.

"So, what are you calling me for?" Shikamaru trailed a lone finger down the soft curves of Temari's arm, admiring the feminine tone to them.

"Shikamaru." Gaara deadpanned.

"Alright, alright. Have you tried just being…nice?"

Nice? Had he tried being nice? The better question here was 'had he ever been nice'?

"Shikamaru, have I ever been nice?" Gaara sarcastically chided as he narrowed his eyes and angrily picked the lint off of the top of his sofa.

Shikamaru continued tracing Temari's arms, admiring the small smile she kept in her sleep from the action. He tried to recall a time where Gaara was seemingly 'nice' to the opposite sex, or anyone else for that matter. Not even to him. He was, at best, a troubled soul so to say. He needed someone to treat him kindly on both his good and bad days or else he'd be alone for God knows how long, and by the looks of it, this Sakura girl was able to get past his rough exterior. How? He had no clue, but Gaara should thank the gods she did and at least _try_ to be nice back before he permanently loses her, before he even has a chance to have her that is.

"Look Sabaku, you need to be nice. At this rate if you only give off inklings, extremely rude inklings, that you may have the tiniest of feelings for her she's not going to want to stick around for very long to find out if those feelings are even going to grow."

An exasperated sigh was heard from Gaara's end. A sigh of defeat, Shikamaru assumed. He inwardly smiled at his small victory. "So what are you doing tomorrow Gaara?"

A quizzical look found its way to Gaara's face and his mouth sank into a small pout. "Shikamaru, I don't really see how that's relevant to this conversation," he squinted his eyes in annoyance.

Sometimes Gaara could be dumber than one of those ever present commercial ads for useless products. Shikamaru guessed he'd have to spell it out for him or else he'd get no sleep whatsoever.

"_No_ Gaara, it _is_. _What _are you going to do tomorrow?"

A loud smack was heard as Gaara hit his forehead with this hand on the other end and trailed it down his facial features, "Shikamaru, if you ask me a stupid question like that again I'm going to hang up the phone!-"

_Right, he was going to hang up on him after he'd desperately called asking for advice._

"- Why don't you just stop beating around the bush and tell me what you're trying to get at?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and laid back to make himself comfortable upon his pillow. Temari soon rolled over on top of his chest, snuggling into the warmness and comfort radiating from him. "Do you have class tomorrow?"

Gaara thought for a moment before answering, "No."

"Good, then you're going to go to her house like the pathetic stalker you are and be _nice _to her, alright? But don't creep her out too much. I imagine you've been mood swinging like crazy on her. Troublesome, really."

"So you just want me to waltz into her house-"

"-No, I want you to be invited in." Shikamaru smiled at his smart retort.

"Fine. I'll be invited in and then what?"

"And then you put the moves on her like I did your sister."

"Like you WHA-"

"Goodnight Gaara." Shikamaru hung up the phone and lightly chuckled to himself as he settled into bed.

"Gaara calling about a girl? That's new."

Shikamaru looked down at the blonde stretching on his chest, "How long have you been up?"

"Just a little while. Does she like him?"

He nodded.

"Good… So you put the moves on me, eh?" She smiled up at him with hooded eyes.

Shikamaru laughed and rolled them over in bed. He definitely wasn't going to sleep tonight.

**-A.o.D-**

**Read, Critique, Review.**


	4. Intrigue

**A/N: Major OOCness.**

**Chapter 4: Intrigue**

**SPOV**

It had been almost a week since I'd seen him. He hadn't showed up to class the first scheduled day of the week. I sat there that Tuesday morning with a butterfly the size of Texas floating around my stomach. I was nervous, excited, and anxious all the same. My leg bounced so much to relieve my exasperating tension that I was practically vibrating in my seat. Every so often I would glance at the door hoping that he'd saunter in like one of those high school students who were "too cool" to show up on time for anything. However as time wound down and we only had a half hour left of the 2 hour class, my hopes got weaker and weaker. I watched the clock with each passing minute, wishing he'd walk through the door. He didn't. But what was I supposed to do? I desperately wanted to corner him, question him about the other night and ask why he was so abrupt with me, why he couldn't just let his feelings be known to me, why he **stalked **me from underneath the tree in my front yard.

_Yeah, he's definitely a keeper._

The classroom was dull, barely capturing my attention as usual with its bleak walls and 'iridescent' snake like professor slithering around the room from table to table. Large window panes from floor to ceiling filed along the wall of the west side of the class and portrayed the expectantly oppressive whether outdoors. Dreary clouds gathered in an angry mob above the student parking lot, threatening to leak their contents on the rushing ant size students below.

_How I would __**kill **__to be out there right now…anywhere away from here and this creep of a teacher._

I focused my attention back to the classroom and the clock fixated on the north end. There was only 10 minutes left of class and he was a no show.

Again.

The bookcase that was precariously placed into a tight corner beside the only exit of the room caught my attention in a desperate attempt to distract my mind from its wandering, and of course anymore thoughts of **him. **A series of medical textbooks adorned the top 3 shelves of the case and as the levels decreased more personal books could be seen on display. The Catcher in the Rye was the first to catch my attention considering my Professor was … for better lack of words, a creep. A creep who I thought had no sense of appreciation for interesting literature. However my thoughts deviated down a different and slightly amusing path, as my gaze landed on the hardback cover of Jane Eyre. The spine looked extremely worn from use and faded along the sides, yet there wasn't a speck of dust on it, unlike the other books. Not that there was a single thing wrong with the novel, it was just…unusual that my **male** teacher took such a liking to the book.

A flash of fiery red from the window of the classroom door instantly caught my attention.

His aquamarine eyes slowly trailed up to bore directly into my emerald orbs.

The past few days of worry and dread seemed to lift off my shoulders like a bird flying headstrong into the streaking sun in the sky. I forgot that I was 'upset' with him. I forgot that I desperately wanted to question him about that night underneath my tree and the coffee shop. And even temporarily, I forgot how to breathe. I guess he noticed, perhaps I had started to become blue in the face, because he quickly did a charade on how to successfully intake oxygen and exhale the carbon dioxide that was clouding my flustered brain.

I flushed a brilliant shade of salmon pink from my hairline to my neck, quickly sucking in a deep breath and admiring the slight hint of a smile on his face at my action. I scrambled to grab my notebook and a sharpie out of my bag, holding up a finger as I saw him making fidgety movements as if he was about to leave. I scribbled out a quick note in all capitals large enough for him to see from where I sat.

'_CAN I SEE YOU?'_

He momentarily stood there while a flood of confusion filled his face. He pointed from himself to me and then to his eyes and mine, miming that **clearly** I was seeing him now. I rolled my eyes as he gave a satisfied smirk to my obvious annoyance.

'_AFTER CLASS. HALLWAY.' _

I underlined after class for good effect and turned the sign towards his direction, hoping the class was busy enough not to notice my two way miming session with him at the door.

His eyes quickly scanned the page and he nodded his agreement before quickly disappearing from view. I let out a small breath I hadn't realized I was holding. My palms had started to sweat a crazy frenzied river and I was back to vibrating around in my seat as I had been prior, desperately waiting for the last 2 minutes of class to be done and over with.

It was a peculiar feeling. Having emotions like this course through my veins and ignite a spark within me that I thought long ago had completely short circuited. He was quickly worming his way into my life and my body was responding in a way that my brain didn't quite know if it was ready for yet. Not that it really had a choice.

Class was finally over and I raced down the steps to do an awkward penguin shuffle with the rest of my peers out of the single exit. I stumbled out, my face catching aflame, half expecting to see Gaara casually leaning against a wall chuckling in amusement, but he was nowhere in sight. I was extremely grateful, yet still a little crestfallen and anxious. I gave up looking for him in the throngs of students shuffling around the hall and hoped he was waiting somewhere in the parking lot, preferably by my truck. As I trudged down the hallway, my cell phone started buzzing in my pocket.

_Its Gaara!_

Inwardly I hoped it was, but I knew he didn't have my cell number. A text from Kakashi sprang up as I unlocked my phone, asking what I felt like eating for lunch. As I pondered, I didn't watch where I was going and ran headlong into the topic of my obsession in my mind over the last few days.

The first things to drop were the books in my arms as I clutched my cell phone for dear life. I did **not **want to have to pay for a new one.

"Oh my God, who the hell walks into somebody like that in a nearly empty hallway when there is _so_ much more walking space? Idiot." I continued to mumble to myself as I picked up my things, not bothering to look at _who _it was I had bumped into.

A grunt came from the other person as they bent down, handing me a book, mumbling in a gravelly voice, "I'm not an idiot Haru-…Sakura."

My head snapped up so fast at the sound of his voice that I knew my neck was going to be paying for it tonight. "Gaara?" I questioned.

"Well who else would it be."

My eyes narrowed at his smart retort. I hadn't seen the bastard for almost a week and before we can even start to have a decent conversation he starts getting all sarcastic over a rhetorical question. Just as I was about to lay into him, he quickly handed me the last book on the ground and stood up.

"Listen," he started scratching the back of his neck, "I have to go. Got a couple errands I need to run and I just meant to stop by to umm…pick up some things."

I looked down at his empty hand and the one still stretched behind his head.

"Pick up…what?" I raised an eyebrow and a faint pink blush dusted his cheeks. I smiled full on and reached out to poke him. "Me?"

"Hey, stop that." He swatted my hand away and hid his eyes behind a small curtain of blood red hair dangling on his forehead. "I gotta go, but we'll catch up later." With that he quickly turned on his heel and strode out of the double doors down the hall.

It was only after he was out of viewing distance I realized I still hadn't yet gotten the chance to corner him and grill him.

**-A.o.D-**

A gentle breeze swept through the air that felt like my first clear breath of many to come. My hair tangled within the onslaught, fighting to win purchase over my face with the dim sunlight shining from above. It was oddly refreshing feeling the orbs warmth after seeing it hidden away a mere hour ago as if it would never present itself forth again. But a lot of things in my life are turning out to be like that, in the best of ways.

The breeze carried off down the street, fluttering mixed matched hues of rust, vibrant yellow, and the dullest of brown into gutters and yards of my neighbors where children dove and sank into plush pillowed piles of leaves. Their rosy cheeks and runny noses the only indication of the onset of cool air sinking into the crevices and openings of the neighborhood. I smiled as I reminisced on the old days when life was that simple. When the climax of my day was jumping into a bed of leaves and the low of it was bedtime. A simpler time where there weren't as many questions, thoughts, or expectations; it was even a time where 'do you like me' was simply a checked yes or no.

"My oh my, I think I've just seen an angel."

Immediately a warm fuzzy feeling blanketed me with his cheesy line. It was like this with us, and I wouldn't give it up for the world. He stood leaning against the arch of my door, shirtless in the cool air with the sun dazzling off of his broad chest. The slacks he liked to call pants dangling from his narrow hips and pooling around his feet. The way his silver hair fell into his face repeatedly was amusing if not annoying, but those piercing miss matched eyes were the real keepers if any.

"Kakashi, you'll catch a cold if you stand there like that old man." I teased him and his face immediately soured into a comical pout.

"It's not polite to speak to your elders that way after they give you a compliment you know. Now be polite and let's try this again." He arched an eyebrow in a challenge that I couldn't possibly deny.

My eyes rolled as I prepared for the battle. There wasn't a day that went buy where we didn't have a Mexican standoff. That was us, this was us. How much would it change if someone else was thrown into the mix; that is if said someone ever got the balls to man up.

"I said you're _old_, and if you stand out here then you're gonna catch a-" I was off my feet by the time I got to the end of my sentence, as expected. Maybe it was a manly thing, but guys aren't satisfied until you're hoisted over their shoulder like in the Stone Age. Caveman instinct? Perhaps. Egotistical? Most likely.

"You know you never texted me back." he carried on conversation as he brought me into the house and placed me upright. He gingerly removed my scarf and bonnet while I methodically unbuttoned my jacket and slid off my boots. "I didn't know what you wanted so I made my favorite." He grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards the kitchen, stopping to wave a hand in front of the promised meal. "Miso!"

I arched an eyebrow and a nervous tick began in my eye. He knows how I feel about these awkward settings he likes to spring on me. I just don't understand why a man in his thirties feels the need to be romantic in one of his most unromantic relationships. Countless times I've told him it's weird and under no circumstances should he do it again lest I beat him until he can't remember his name anymore. Yet here we stand in front of a 'candle lit lunch', lights dimmed, and a vase of white roses as a centerpiece.

He glanced at me and crossed his arms in a defiant manner, smug grin plastered on his face. "Is there something wrong, Sakura?"

Had it been anyone else, _anyone _else, I would not stand for the constant defiance. I smiled my biggest shit eating grin and turned towards him, "No, no, I'm just so famished after a long day in class. Come here!" I leaned in to hug him, waiting for him to respond. As he uncrossed his arms I punched him swiftly in the gut. "Jackass. Thanks for lunch though." After successfully causing pain, I exuded happiness. He really was a good cook.

He hobbled to the table and glared as he picked up his spoon, "So happy to oblige."

"You know I don't understand you sometimes. You always tell me you do these elaborate things because you have no one else to do them with." I slurped my soup while I thought back to the last couple years of our friendship and the other dozen times he'd whipped out something like this. It always had the same outcome – him getting hurt – but he insisted on doing 'random acts of romance' anyway. Why I had to be his outlet though, I didn't understand.

He continued eating and grumbled the same reply I always received, "Too much effort to go out and find a real relationship."

He was lonely and so was I, but effort wasn't the real reason why he never went to scope out women. He was afraid, that much I had gathered over the years. I was too but wasn't it time to change that? Could we really live off of each other's friendship for the remainder of our lives?

I gave him a small smile while I fiddled with the last of my soup, "You know there's always ."

He flashed me a quick smile and the bird as he gathered our dishes to wash, "Nope. You'll do for now."

Would I? How long could I keep doing this now?

**-A.o.D-**

I curled up on my bed with a crinkled paper in one hand and my cell phone in the other. It was obvious that if this was going to get anywhere, it would have to be done by me. He was so push and pull all the time that I was experiencing emotional whiplash before we'd even gotten anywhere; _**if **_we were going to get anywhere. I glanced at the crinkled paper in my hand, his seemingly elegant scrawl on it with an address and phone number. He said we'd talk later right? A couple hours definitely qualified as later, right? I would just message him and if he didn't answer in 10 minutes I'd never message him again. That was logical, right?

I played around on my phone, scrolling through apps unnecessarily to get to my messages, taking longer than necessary to put in the number. Now what was I going to say?

'_Hey, couldn't stop thinking about you after I saw you today." _No.

'_Hey..cutie?" _No, definitely not.

'_Hi, I like you and I think its bordering obsession!" _Um, definitely not.

Rubbing my temples, I sighed and contemplated a myriad of situations that could follow this message. He could angrily message back and say he only gave me his number strictly for assignment purposes and no personal canoodling. He could just be angry over the fact that I had messaged him period, or worse, he could just not answer. The outcomes were endless. Before I could lose my nerve, I quickly typed out a small message consisting of 'Hey, it's Sakura from Bio' and pressed send.

Was the 'from bio' truly necessary? How many other Sakuras could he possible know that had his number? Why am I so stupid!

I couldn't stand to be near my phone that was radiating my stupidity from the screen so I paced the floor, anticipating his response and responses that I could give to them in return. However what I didn't prepare for was a catchy ringtone to fill the room over my padding footsteps.

No…

He didn't..

I leapt onto my bed from the floor and stared at the screen as his name and number urgently popped up as the phone vibrated. I was stunned into a stupor momentarily until I realized I needed to answer before he reached my voicemail.

I pressed answer and tried to speak but a dry flow of air followed by a hacking cough exuded from my body before I could do much of anything. His chuckling baritone of a voice vibrated in my hand and I glared at the screen before putting it up to my ear, clearing my throat one last time. "H-hello?"

"Hey." His voice was smooth and devoid of nerves .

That butterfly the size of Texas seized my stomach once more as well as a quick shot of adrenaline through my system straight to my core. My body started to heat up of its own accord and a permanent blush from my hairline to my neck took residence.

"Hey," was my dumbly dazzled reply.

He laughed a low hum once again and cleared his throat, "I hope I didn't startle you?" His statement came out as a question and I could almost see the shit eating grin he was wearing on his face right now.

My blush darkened as I glared at a pillow. "Perhaps." A smile slowly traced its way only my features as there was a small lapse in conversation. I was happy he had called; it was a good thing. What other guy would call instead of just messaging back.

"I'm sorry," he said breaking the silence.

"For what?" Being so confusing? He should be.

"About the coffee shop.." he trailed off at the end, no doubt remembering the spiraling evening.

"Oh, yeah." I sucked in a breath, preparing to lay into him finally, "What was all of that about! And then the whole tree thing, that was you wasn't i-"

"I like you.." he said those three words and all of the air I had puffed out of my lips quickly.

Goosebumps raged over my exposed skin, tingling my body from limb to limb. My breathing started back up again almost in small deliberate gasps. "You what?"

He impatiently sighed and cleared his throat again, "I said I like you."

I fell back onto my pillows with a huff and stared at my ceiling. "Yeah, that's what I thought you said. But why are you telling me this now? Especially after how you acted, I'd never be able to tell. You're so hot and cold with me."

I heard a rhythmic clicking and a horn in the background before he responded, "I know. I guess you could say I'm just not very good with words. Not my thing."

I smiled and laughed a bit. "No, you're not. You had me worried for a while. I kind of put myself out there and you closed up like a clam. And I don't do that often." I heard the low hum of car engines in the street, guessing Kakashi must be going out to do god knows what. I ventured downstairs to an empty house before I heard Gaara speak again.

"I know, and I apologize profusely. This is all kind of…new." I could almost hear the smile in this voice.

"New you say? I'd imagine women are throwing themselves at your feet. It's pretty hard to catch my interest." I saw headlights flash through the front window curtains and figured Kakashi forgot something as usual.

Gaara seemed to be physically struggling with something before he responded, "Are you…calling me attractive?" He joked. He _joked_. Had someone wacked him across the head with a 'nice' stick?

I openly laughed and blushed brilliantly, flabbergasted as to how to respond before I heard a knock. Why Kakashi would knock, I don't know. At least the idiot saved me from a response. "There's someone at my door, hold that thought." I heard a murmured approval as I made my way towards the door opening it to berate the man behind it. "You know if you weren't so old and forgetful you-" I stopped mid-sentence as I laid eyes on the beautiful arrangement in my eye sight. Red and white lotus flowers smiled invitingly into my face and obscured that of the owners.

"Oh my.." I reached out to touch the soft petals of a white lotus, slowly drawing my hand back, trying to look at the beholders face. "Excuse me. Are you a flower delivery man? I think you've got the wrong house." It definitely wasn't Kakashi holding them and surely he wouldn't have sent me flowers when there was already a bundle of white roses sitting on the dining room table.

I heard the voice out loud before I heard it in the receiver, "No, I'm not a delivery man but I'm sure I have the right house," the flowers slowly started to move away from the owners face and I saw a mop of red, "I've actually upset someone that lives here… Someone I like. So I brought her flowers hoping she would forgive me. It seemed like the _nice_ thing to do." Gaara's face was revealed and I clutched my phone tightly until my knuckles turned a sickly white.

"Gaara?"

He took a step closer towards the door. "You're going to break your phone." He stated simply.

"What? What are you talking about?"

He stepped closer until his Chuck Taylors were flush against my toes. He hung up his phone and deposited it in his pocket before reaching for my own, slowly prying it from my grip as my fingers melted against his touch. He replaced the phone with the bouquet of flowers and reached around my back with both arms, placing my phone into my back pocket. He was so close I could smell the heady scent of his cool mint spiced body wash and aftershave. I decided he was too close as I all but greedily inhaled his scent and my olfactory senses went into full overdrive, clouding my mind and dazing me further.

His hands boldly skimmed from the small of my back to my hips, grazing the skin between my band tee and low rise jeans, rubbing incessantly on the swell of my hips. I squeezed tightly onto the bouquet as I sucked in a breath and my eyes fluttered shut. He pushed against the small of my back until our chests brushed together and he breathed an apology across the top of my head.

"I hope you can forgive me," his lips grazed across my forehead making a path down to my temple and finally my ear, "Can I come in?" His fingers flexed across my back as I opened my eyes to look up into deep teal green eyes.

"Uh huh," Came my idiot reply as I nodded my head. I watched as he slowly smiled and it reached his eyes before he brushed against my body to step by me into my home.

I leaned against the door and watched his retreating form; desperately praying the cool breeze from outside would calm my heated face and restless body. I looked at the flowers clutched desperately in my hand and decided two could play this game. I squared my shoulders and marched down the hall after him, kicking the door shut. Yeah, I could definitely play this game.


	5. Reveal

A/N: Sorry for the wait, I've been caught up in school things. There's a slightly large time skip here, but more of the plot is beginning to be unraveled. OOCness out the butt.

Chapter 5: Reveal

SPOV

It had been 3 months since he showed up on my doorstep with flowers in hand and a smoldering look in his bright green eyes. Kakashi had since left but questioned me to near death on the meaning of the _boy_'s kind gesture. To say he was territorial was the least, but the tensions rolling in waves between him and who he deemed _the boy_ was enough to know not to keep the two within a mile of one another. Life had been strange now that I actually looked forward to going to class early and working on my final project.

_***3 months before***_

Time alone with Gaara didn't even begin to shed light on anything about him. If anything things had started to become strange; both in good and bad ways. In the midst of one of our project study sessions a couple weeks or so after the 'flower incident' he received a phone call. I figured he'd answer it, but as he glanced at the name blinking from his smart phone his nostrils flared and he went right back to typing madly on his laptop. Maybe it was a person he didn't like to speak to? I often had the same reaction when my own mother called and I wasn't in the mood for her poking and prodding which had only seemed to get worse over the months as she noticed my rather chipper attitude. Being around Gaara certainly did make me happy knowing that he had some sort of thing for me, but we'd yet to get into some sticky romance situation where I was shoved against some hard object or surface and kissed senseless.

The phone rang again but he didn't answer. He looked up and I gave him a pointed look of scrutiny before going back to my work, only for his phone to ring again. A gust of air left his flared nostrils while he angrily picked up the phone and muttered an "Excuse me" before shuffling into the next room where I heard hushed words of aggression. To say the phone call was strange would have been an understatement but the foul mood he returned in could only be described as one of extreme vexation; and damn did I like it on him.

"What was that about?" I half expected him to say something along the lines of a determined telemarketer or an irate family member.

He seemed to be contemplating an answer before he looked towards me, "Nothing."

I didn't question it; but should I have?

More often than not when we were together for our study sessions, at my house, or out for coffee he'd get a call, have a hushed conversation, and say he had to leave. I never suspected it was another woman because he always seemed angry, but who was I to challenge that when I was anything _but_ his woman since he hadn't even broached the subject after uttering he liked me over the telephone along with that suggestive phone gesture on my doorstep. I was fully prepared to play a game of cat and mouse but hadn't considered him bowing out before it had even started. I felt like I was dealing with two people most of the time. A caged up guy without a whole lot to say, or the smoldering red head with a haughty personality waiting to be unleashed from the depths of himself. That's the Gaara I wanted to get to know; my smoldering red head.

_***Present***_

He'd changed in the last 3 months and I couldn't quite put my finger on what exactly it was that caused all of it. Sure he was more open than I'd ever seen him and certainly even more attractive. It seemed to become his personal life goal to work out Monday through Friday wherever he could squeeze it in around classes and our study sessions, not that I complained. I appraised his strong forearms while I sat next to him in Orochi's class. The subtle hump of his pectorals on days he only wore t-shirts and no jacket. Seemingly in a few months his face was losing the boyish roundness it held and a more defined man was being born. I attributed it to his workouts, but haughty and confident Gaara was making more of an appearance than he had in the beginning months of knowing him. His gaze lingered as well as his hands now. He made it a point to slowly brush his sculpted and refined chest across my soft pliant body whenever given the chance. And today he looked damn good as he strolled in the minute Orochi called us down for our presentation.

He wore charcoal grey tailored slacks, tapered to the T for his long and well-muscled legs, as I could see. A light blue button down stretched across his chest and slightly broad shoulders, clashing dangerously with his blood red hair and dazzling green eyes. His hands were in his pockets as he waited for me to descend the stairs of the lecture hall, and his charcoal slacks stretched deliciously over his toned thighs. I almost tripped at the sight but gained my composure enough to look him square into his eyes that danced with mirth. Yeah, he just watched me check him out.

The presentation was harmless enough, even though I stammered through it like an incoherent bimbo. Gaara spoke intelligently and flawlessly might I add. The female population of the class was melted into goo as his gravelly baritone carried across the lecture hall. It bothered me, so I crossed my arms in an attempt to physically hold the aggression at bay. It's not like those girls even gave two shits about him months ago before he decided to start working out and got even hotter. Fifty sets of eyes turned towards me at once as if they could hear my train of thought and I looked quizzically at them and then Gaara to discover it was my turn to take over the presentation again. He smugly raised his eyebrows at me and I gave him a disdainful look before beginning my part, lying with my eyes to crush whatever hopes he may have had that I'd been too busy daydreaming about him to remember it was my turn. He didn't need to know everything, right?

As we left the building that day after class he turned to me, the April sun catching his red hair just right, "Easy A. I mean because I did my part, and there's no way I messed that up..but you.." he hinted.

It was easy to pretend to be mad when your pride was hurt. My cheeks flamed and I furrowed my brow in embarrassment, "Oh please, I did my part plenty. I just had a bit of a late night..." Fantasizing.

That haughty look with the eyebrow raise was back and I glared at him. "Coffee? My treat?" he offered, and I couldn't refuse.

We took his sleek black sports car he'd become accustomed to driving a lot now, as he insisted that his car was the only option seeing as how he couldn't have a small woman drive him around in a large truck. Hurt his pride. We'd be back to pick up my truck later.

He merged onto the highway, or should I say raced, because nothing was ever slow with him in this car it seems. I was too caught up with my thoughts of him in our first visit to the coffee shop that I hadn't noticed much about the car or the speed at which he was zigzagging through traffic. It was a stick shift, but you couldn't tell by how fluidly it moved. He effortlessly changed gears and it almost looked as if he wasn't moving anything from the bicep up because of how easy he made it look. His forearms tensed and tendons stretched as he switched gears again and I didn't think I'd ever get tired of watching him drive. We pulled up to a small café tucked in between two boutiques on a busy street in the city. Gaara busied himself with feeding the meter for the parking space and I wandered over to one of the boutiques that flanked the coffee shop.

I cleaned close to the store window glass and marveled at the cute dresses and colorful tops on display throughout the store; spring was a beautiful season for fashion indeed.

"See something you like?" A rough older man's voice came from beside me, startling me out of my thoughts.

I turned towards him and my heart sank in my chest while simultaneously doubling in speed. He had grey hair and a long scar that slanted from one side of his face to the other. He wore a white suit with a black dress shirt and a sneer that made my blood run cold.

"I-I'm sorry, I was just looking. I'll go!" I stammered out, ready to make a mad dash to Gaara, hoping he'd put his new muscles to use on this creepy old guy.

"Nonsense!" The old man latched onto my forearm as he reached for something behind his back. "Come with me and I'll buy you all the things you want…Eventually. I might just be able to get along with you real swell."

His body reeked of cologne as he tried to bring me closer to him while I struggled to get away. Where was Gaara when I needed him? I was just about to scream bloody murder for him when his heady smell drifted up through my nose and a warm but firm hand drifted around my waist.

"Let her go right now if you knows what good for you," Gaara all but spat in the older man's face.

"Gaara! I was waiting for you to make an appearance. Why don't you save me the headache here and just let me take her? Boss doesn't want complications in public. "The older man smiled jovially like he was best friends with Gaara and he wasn't discussing kidnapping me in broad daylight.

My gaze flickered hurriedly between the man and Gaara wishing that the world would swallow me up whole. I was Sakura and this sort of thing just didn't happen to me. No way was this guy serious and why the hell hadn't Gaara done anything! I prepared again to scream bloody murder and yank my hand away from the man who started reaching behind him again, before Gaara's quick movements ripped the air right out of my chest.

Gaara had reached behind his person and had seemingly pulled a handgun out of nowhere because I didn't see it tucked into his trousers earlier when I ogled his backside. His hands were firm and not at all trembling as if he used a gun often. He released the safety and stared intently into the man's eyes. To onlookers it seemed as if the questionable man wasn't ready to give up his time with me to my 'boyfriend' with the way Gaara clutched me to him like a lifeline. No one could see Gaara's gun except maybe a customer in the boutique which so happened to be empty. My heart palpated and went into double time as the enormity of the situation caught up with me to confirm my fears. Yes I really was about to be kidnapped, yes Gaara had a _gun _out, and at this moment, no I did not know if my future looked so promising.

"Cut the shit and let my Angel go. I won't ask again," came Gaara's terse reply.

I whipped my head around so fast as his Angel comment, I'm surprised I didn't get whiplash on the spot. I was his what?

All fake happiness vanished from the mystery man and he gruffly let me go, not wanting to make a scene. He took a couple steps back with his hands lightly held in the air, a twinkle in his eyes, "I'll be back for her, and you can count on it. This is only the beginning." He smiled before rounding the corner and I rounded on Gaara.

"What the hell was that and what the _hell_ is this?" I shouted while pointedly looking at the gun he still held out in his hand.

He shoved the gun back into his waistband to hide it from view before forcedly pushing me towards the car with his hand on the small of my back. "We can't talk about this here, right now. Just get in the car."

I dug my heels into the ground, my fight or flight instincts kicking in. "Just get in the car? You pull out a damn gun and you expect me to just get into the car with you?" I asked incredulously while his look soured deeper and deeper into irritation.

"Look Angel, we don't have time for this. I need you to get in the car and I'll try to explain it later."

His Angel comment once again practically deterred me from rational thought. "Angel? Why do you keep calling me Angel? Gaara tell me what's going on?" I pleaded him with my eyes.

His cheeks tinted red as he realized he'd called me Angel to my face and I'd picked up on it, "It suits you." He said simply and opened the passenger door for me. "Now get in…please."

I huffed and got in the car only because his comment made me feel special, and because he said the word please.

He peeled out of the parking space and tore back onto the highway in a matter of minutes. His hands gripped the steering wheel like I'd never seen before, occasionally albeit angrily switching gears to increase his speed. I knew I couldn't get the answers I wanted out of him to the more important questions right now, as if it weren't already implied by the firm 'later' he'd stated before I got in the car.

"So, it suits me you said?" I hedged.

He glanced distractedly at me before switching lanes and making a show of looking over his shoulder for other cars, in order to hide his blush. "Uh, yeah."

"What did you mean by that?"

"I meant what I said, it just suits you." He said flabbergasted.

"Do you call me that often? I've never heard you say it but you said it like it was…like it was my name or something…" I trailed off, a blush taking purchase over my face. I liked the thought of Gaara thinking of me as his Angel, beside the whole dangerous situation it came out in.

"A lot, in my head." He admitted while shifting in his seat, clearly uncomfortable with the questioning. "Does it bother you or something?" He reversed our questioning roles.

"Nope." I stated simply and stared out the window.

**-A.o.D-**

Gaara instructed me to sit on the couch while he paced the kitchen and made a number of calls. I glanced warily at him from the sofa every ten seconds or so as his responses to the person speaking with him got worse and worse. His hands occasionally gripped his hair, a habit that seemingly developed over night. He stomped from one side of the kitchen to the next, and gripped onto the granite island countertop in the middle of the room. Haughty frustrated Gaara was making an appearance all over again like he had when he'd pulled out that gun earlier, and damn me because I liked it. I squirmed in my seat looking pointedly at the ground in front of me. I was having vivacious thoughts about haughty Gaara after having been almost kidnapped? I was seriously messed up. Gaara came strolling back into the room after his short conversation, still looking delicious in his button down and tailored slacks. He pursed his lips and raised his eyebrows, a confident smirk slowly taking over his features as he watched my appreciative gaze. Damn him!

He took up pacing in front of me before he abruptly stopped and turned towards me, towering over my figure.

"Ask me anything you want to know, right now, before anyone shows up." He said sternly, his eyes taking on a crazed look.

Anyone? Who was anyone? And what was anyone going to do to me?

"Anyone? Who's anyone? Are they coming to take me away like that man?" My heart started palpating in my chest again and I doubled over in panic, my head sinking into my hands while I breathed quickly.

He rushed towards me in an instant and bent down on one knee, his hands prying my own hands from my face. "What? No, of course not. I'd never let anyone take you away from me Angel." He caught my eyes as he spoke these words solidifying a promise between the two of us.

I nodded meekly and my breathing slowed. "Well what did that man want with me anyway? And why do you have a _gun_?" I looked wearily down at his waistband, almost inching back.

He rolled his eyes and took the gun out, holding it in one hand up in surrender before releasing the clip and placing it and the gun on the glass end table. "I need it for protection nowadays. And that fowl man is someone you'll hopefully never have the pleasure of seeing for the rest of your days if I have anything to say about it." His face hardened and his jaw ticked in anger.

He was giving me the run around with his cryptic answers and it wasn't lessening my fears any at all. "What do you mean you need it for protection nowadays? Gaara what are you doing that warrants a weapon? Do you sell drugs? Is it drugs? You're a drug dealer?" I screeched as I pushed him away and he fell on his rump in front of me.

He laughed a loud boisterous laugh I never thought would _ever_ come out of him before he rocked off his butt and back onto his knees. "Angel I absolutely _wish _I was just a drug dealer on the streets compared to the crap I unwantedly got dragged into."

I sobered at his heavyhearted tone and furrowed my brow, "Gaara, stop speaking in code. Tell me what's wrong." My life was seemingly in the balance and I wanted to know why.

He sighed before grabbing each of my hands in his and looking down at my lap before he went on to explain, "That man today, his name was Kabuto. He was trying to take you to get at me…" He let that sink in before he heaved another sigh and continued on. "You see, I'm not really who you think I am. My father, he's Jinchi Sabaku. Biggest mobster alive in California, and damnit does he have a lot of enemies."

His hold on my hands tightened as the color drained from my face while my mouth silently popped open.

"You see Angel, there's another man who's trying to take up residence in California as number one. His name is Hiruzen Sarutobi. He's the one who sent that man, Kabuto, after you today. Sarutobi put my father in the hospital 3 months ago and he's basically on his last leg as we speak. Given that I'm the only competent male within my siblings, I'm the one who's supposed to take his spot as head…"

I tried to wrap my mind around what it was he was telling me. Mobsters? A strange man sent by Sarutobi to kidnap me to get to Gaara? There was just so much I wasn't quite grasping.

"Sarutobi thinks that if he takes you from me he'll have leverage over me to make me step down and not take my rightful place as head. My sister can't be head because they don't allow for women to take over, and my numbskull brother would drive the Sabaku name right into the ground. Without a leader the Sabaku name means nothing and Sarutobi can take over as he pleases. My father's wish before he dies is that I take over, and as much as I dislike the man for not being around when I was a kid because he was 'caught up' in work, he's the only living parent that I have. My mom…" he choked out the word mom, "would never want me to turn my back on him." He composed himself and looked me square in the eye. "I told my dad I would only get involved in the family business if absolutely necessary, but until then I would enroll in medical school. But now they're after you to get to me and now I _know_ I have to take over to ensure your safety with the many resources I will be able to tap into. I can't and won't let anything hurt you. You're the only thing that's made me happy in years Angel. You can't leave me."

I stared at him incredulously mulling over his colorful confession in my head, "Well I don't have much of a choice now do I?" I gave him a small smile and his eyes lit up temporarily with what could only be described as happiness. "But if I apparently mean so much to you that you would go postal and whip out a gun on a guy for me, why haven't you shown it?" I pouted as I looked up at him through my lashes. He was such a tease the last 3 months getting hotter and hotter but still withholding even a simple kiss.

A small sexy smirk took purchase on his small plump lips as he parted my knees to kneel between them, his palms planted on either side of my hips on the sofa as he leaned towards my face.

"You're thinking about my physical advances on you at a time like this?" He let out a breathy chuckle as my cheeks flamed and I nibbled on my lip as nerves coursed through my veins along with adrenaline.

"Yes!" came my airy reply.

He shook his head a couple times, still chuckling lightly. He stared at my eyes then my lips as his tongue darted out to wet his own. "Do you want to kiss me, Angel?"

I nodded mutely, not having enough confidence that my voice wouldn't crack. He leaned closer, dabbing his lips lightly with his pink tongue before he captured my bottom lip, suckling on it. His mouth was as hot as an inferno and an instant surge of energy pushed its way through my body, seeping out of every pore, akin to a light sweat. My heart hammered in my chest and I forgot how to breathe as he slowly and thoroughly worked his lips and meshed them with mine over and over. Maybe it was my lack of sexual encounters over the last year or so, but a hot burning itch needed to be scratched in the depths of my body. I rubbed my hands over his strong forearms past his slightly bulging biceps up his broad firm shoulders and into his soft unruly mop of red hair. I tugged and sighed into his open mouth as my tongue delved into the warm cavern sliding against his tongue, warring for purchase. My parted legs inched apart further and locked around his waist and I pulled him towards me, forgetting to act like a lady and showing him just how sexually frustrated he'd made me these past few weeks.

His hard chest came into contact with my soft breasts and I felt as well as heard a growl rip through him as he tried to grasp the cushions of the couch in his fists. He released my mouth with a small pop well before I was ready, and licked his red lips while his brow furrowed.

"_Fuck_, Angel." He said as breathless as I felt.

My eyes widened and a surge of pleasure went straight through my body to my core as I gripped his hair, more firmly locking him against my body with my legs. "Say it again," I demanded.

"Say what? Angel? I can stop that if you want." He looked a little sheepish and tried to pull away.

"No no, say it. Say fuck." I urged. Where was this wild side coming from?

Another sexy smirk took purchase over his face as he boldly emphasized the word _Fuck_ before I pulled his face back down to mine in another searing kiss. He latched onto my lip with his teeth and nibbled to his heart's content. Just when I thought I couldn't take it anymore, his front door burst open.

Gaara's movements were fluid and faster than I could comprehend as he grabbed his gun and clip from the end table, loaded, and cocked the gun at the intruders, all the while drawing me closer with his other arm, my legs still firmly wrapped around his waist.

A leggy blonde with sandy blonde wavy hair and deep blue eyes giggled as she took in the scene and turned towards a slightly taller man with jet black hair and a lazy expression. I gaped at her apparent nonchalance to a gun being pointed directly at her as she spoke to the droopy eyed man.

"I take it _that's_ the girl?" she pointed at me.

Gaara put the safety back on the gun and lightly kissed my cheek, I was too dazed at this woman's blatant disregard to weaponry and Gaara's floodgate of physical affection to pay much attention to his whispered _"I'm sorry about this." _

A curt nod came from the gentleman with dark hair and the leggy blonde turned back towards me and Gaara. "Peachy!" she said as she looked from Gaara and her gaze fell on me, "You ever held a gun before Pinky? It's about time you learned a thing or two."

**-A.o.D-**

**Review, and let me know what you think of this crazy plot unravel!**


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